Panic Party by Berkeley Anthony (7 results)

paperback. Condition: Good. Good. Dust Jacket NOT present. CD WILL BE MISSING. . SHIPS FROM MULTIPLE LOCATIONS. book.

paperback. Condition: Very Good. Most of our very good books have only minor imperfections such as shelf wear consistent with a new book that's sat on a bookshop shelf for a year or two. Occasionally we may miss other minor imperfections as we have to grade books at speed. Our books are dispatched from a Yorkshire former cotton mill. We list via barcode/ISBN so please note that the images are stock images and may not be the exact copy you receive, furthermore the details about edition and year might not be accurate as many publishers reuse the same ISBN for multiple editions and as we simply scan a barcode or enter an ISBN we do not check the validity of the edition data when listing. If you're looking for an exact edition please don't order (at least not without checking with us first, although we don't always have time to check). We aim to dispatch prompty, the service used will depend on order value and book size. We can ship to most countries, see our shipping policies. Payment is via Abe only.

Hardcover. Condition: Fair. 1st Edition. 495 grams. There is a tilt to the spine. Pages 115/116 are detached from the rest of the book.

Softcover. Condition: Good. Reprint. Clean and tightly bound paperback, spine uncreased, card covers rubbed at edges, no inscriptions. 344 pages + 6 pages of publisher's adverts.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. Panic Party by Anthony Berkeley First Edition Hodder & Stoughton 1934. A fine copy. Contents and edges unblemished. No inscriptions or signs of ownership. Covers are unmarked and have no bumping or rubbing to corners. In a bright, fine and remarkably well preserved dust jacket that has no loss or tears and no fading to spine. Priced at 7/6. An excellent copy. For further images please see Brought to Book Ltd.

Hardcover. Condition: Poor. Dust Jacket Condition: Na. 1st Edition. 1st Edition. Description: Blue cloth with black titles to front and spine. Language: English. Book Condition> Poor: Heavy wear to corners, edges and spine ends. Tears to spine edge cloth. Heavily rubbed boards and spine. Cracked endpapers. Remains of plate to rear paste down. Page 31 detached and creased. Tanned pages with occasional spots or marks. DJ Condition> Na. 320pp. Size: 12mo (large) 19.5cm by 13cm. Book Resume: In Panic Party (1934), Sheringham alone stands resolute and decent when a group of pleasure-cruisers are stranded on a desert island and, believing that there is a murderer amongst them, panic breaks out This book reveals Berkeley at his shrewdest and most cynical about human nature, as he outlines a chilling scenario of Ôcivilised' human beings reverting into savages This same premise was used to devastating effect twenty years later in William Golding's Lord of the Flies (1954) Roger Sheringham and the Vane Mystery (1927) saw the introduction of Inspector Moresby of Scotland Yard Moresby is the detective who works most frequently with Sheringham and is remarkably tolerant of his amateur interference Berkeley was so busy trying to subvert the detective fiction tradition set by Conan Doyle, whereby the amateur or private detective always outdoes the professional, that often Moresby's methodical plodding reaches the correct conclusion while Sheringham is still wallowing in his Ôpsychological' misconceptions Indeed, one of the hallmarks of the Roger Sheringham books is that the amateur detective frequently reaches totally the wrong conclusion Panic Party is one of Berkeley's most fascinating books, an innovative exploration of human psychology under stress The puckish Mr Pidgeon strands fourteen guests on an island he has bought, tells them one of them is a murderer, and watches the reaction Although he intended it as a joke, he is pushed off a cliffÑand it becomes clear that Mr Pidgeon's joke may have been no laughing matter Sheringham takes charge in an effort to maintain civilisation and prevent an emotional volcano from erupting, and has a very difficult job of it, with madness and violence breaking out all over the place In Berkeley's view, society equals restraint, a mask concealing the individual's true character and feelings; with society gone, the mask vanishes, and the raw person is left . PLEASE ASK for additional photographs if required.

Hard Cover. Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket. First Edition. First UK Edition. Publisher's light blue cloth, black lettering to the front board and spine. An excellent near fine copy (without the discolouration and mottling so often seen with H & S blue cloth first editions of this period) with clean contents and no previous owner's inscriptions. In the VERY RARE D/W priced 7/6 net to the spine (as called for). The D/W is a bright and attractive example with a touch of fraying at the spine tips but with no loss. The rear flap is blind-stamped: The Circulating Library Harrods Ltd SW1. The rear flap is creased with minor chipping and with a couple of closed tears. One of the rarest Berkeley first editions from the 1930's in our experience. The dark pink/red D/W "shows Guy Pidgeon's body falling backwards over a cliff silhouetted against the moon and framed by trees" (Cooper and Pike). Rare. Photographs/scans available upon request.